Author's note: Hello everyone, I'm finally back! Thank you so much for all your patience and understanding! It really touched me! (T^T) Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to update as quickly as I used to, but I'm finally ready to write again! (^_^) I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanza!
I own nothing but my OC.
That Butler, Competition 2
≤speech in Indian language≥
'thoughts'
"speech"
"Demonic speech"
{setting/stage directions?}
SOUND EFFECTS
An entire sentence like this, without quotes, is narration for dreams or stuff like written letters.
=†=†=†=†= scene shift/time shift
—^—^—^— change of perspective/area of action within one specific time frame/location
Previously:
"When it comes to his sort, the real fun lies in seeing their faces as they taste defeat." Ciel said calmly, smirking slightly. Chêne sweat dropped.
"As you wish, Sir." Sebastian said, mirroring Ciel's expression.
"Although I'm really starting to worry about Ciel's personality... I agree this time. Give 'em hell, Sebastian!" Chêne cheered, grinning as she made a 'V' for victory sign with her hand.
"Then I shall make my way to the staging area for the festival participants." Sebastian said, smirking in amusement at Chêne's choice of words, as he made his way to the designated area.
As Sebastian walked down the hall behind the stage, he came to a door with a sign that said 'Curry Festival' on it, so it must be the place. Sebastian opened the door.
KACHAK.
Agni flinched in surprise when Sebastian entered the waiting room for the curry competition contestants.
"Mister Sebastian." Agni said, shocked to see the butler.
"It has been a while." Sebastian replied.
"What are you doing here...?" Agni asked nervously, confused, as he jumped up from the sofa he had been sitting on.
"I am here at my master's behest." Sebastian said calmly.
"If Lord Ciel has ordered you to take such action with my prince's interests at heart, please withdraw now!" Agni pleaded anxiously. He must win this competition, or Mina would...!
"Hah! My master? Doing this for Prince Soma, you say?" Sebastian asked cynically. Furrowing his eyebrows slightly as he raised one at Agni, as if to say 'you must be joking.' The very idea was laughable. "Your concern is unfounded, for my Lord puts his interests and those of his business before all else."
"I beg you. I do not wish to combat someone who has shown me every kindness!" Agni pleaded urgently, holding his head as he agonized over the situation, thinking Sebastian was just saying these things out of kindness. If only he and his prince had met Mister Sebastian and the others sooner...
"You have your reasons for participating in this fair, as do I." Sebastian said carelessly, not at all bothered by the situation. "That is all there is to it." He assured Agni.
"Forgive me, but I... cannot afford to lose...!" Agni said resolutely, clenching his fists in determination.
"How curious. That holds for me as well." Sebastian said coolly, smirking slightly. Things were getting interesting now...
=†=†=†=†=
{In the main part of the Crystal Palace, at the stage for the contest...}
"Now, ladies and gents! It's time for this 'Indian culture and it's prosperity in the British Empire' exhibition's main event—the Curry Festival!" The MC for the contest announced grandly as he unfurled a copy of one of the posters that had been used to advertise the event. "London's best curry houses will be taking part! And especially for today's event, you, dear audience, will have the chance to sample the competitors' curries! We hope you look forward to it~!" The crowd cheered excitedly, eager to participate in the free sampling.
"Now let's introduce our judges!!" The MC said enthusiastically as he turned to a table that had been set up in the rear, center stage as three men began to walk out onto the stage and take their seats at the table. "Chef Higham, a royal cook who does not compromise on taste." The MC said, introducing the first judge, who happened to be a man in a chef's uniform and hat. He was a rather stern-faced, bearded gentleman with grey hair.
"Mister Carter, who was appointed to the post of Taxation Official in India." The MC said, moving on to the next judge, who was a portly brunette man wearing small spectacles.
Chêne sweat dropped. Why was a government official judging food...? He looked like he enjoyed eating it, but... did he know anything about culinary techniques and such?
"And last, but not least—" The MC said dramatically as he gestured to the last judge. "...The Viscount of Druitt, a lover of art, beauty, and food."
Chêne and Ciel instinctively broke out in goosebumps from shock and horror when they saw the perverted viscount waltz onto the stage, and the audience (mainly the women) Exploded in to applause and cheered things like 'He's so fiiiiiine~!' and 'Kyaaaah~!'
"!?" Ciel and Chêne yelled incredulously as they turned blue with shock, sweating nervously. Why had they thought standing so close to the stage was a good idea!? What if he recognized them, and realized that Ciel had cross-dressed!? It wouldn't be that big of a deal for Chêne if she was discovered, but she really didn't want the viscount to try to hang all over her again... he didn't know that she had been the one who broke his nose, because he had already been mostly unconscious when she did it...
"Eh? Didn't the Yard take him away?" Lau asked, holding a hand up to shield his eyes to make sure it wasn't a trick of the light or something.
"Clearly, he must've bribed his way out. How rotten..." Ciel said, feeling chagrined and fed up with the Yard for letting such a creep back out into polite society. "I really don't want to be reminded of that day's events..." He muttered darkly.
"I second that emotion. You're preaching to the choir, Ciel..." Chêne said gloomily. "Any trust I had in the police to protect the citizens of London has been completely shattered, too... My bonnet hides most of my face, so you can borrow my sari to disguise yourself, if you want." She offered.
"No, that's quite all right..." Ciel said, sweat dropping, as he pulled the brim of his top hat down a bit more. Wearing something like that would just make him stand out even more... Chêne shrugged. His loss, then... she noticed that Ran-Mao was staring at the sari curiously.
"Do you want to try wearing it?" Chêne asked, smiling. Ran-Mao nodded. Chêne smiled at her. "Unfortunately, I don't know how to properly wrap a sari, but you can play around with it if you'd like." Chêne said as she handed the sari to her, and Ran-Mao began experimenting with different ways to wear it.
"My, My~! Isn't that nice? Be sure to thank Miss Maid~!" Lau told her, smiling cheerfully.
"Thanks." Ran-Mao said quietly.
"No problem." Chêne told her, smiling. Ran-Mao was a little strange, but she was a nice girl... It made Chêne wonder how she ended up with Lau...
"And here are today's participants!" The MC declared excitedly as Sebastian, Agni, and four other chefs stepped on stage, all lined up in a row, as the MC began introducing them. "Chef Turpin for Persian Tabb." He said, gesturing to a portly, blond man. "Chef Rush for Dormitory Vill." Rush was a dark-haired, sharp-faced man. "Chef Rickman for Dahlia Limited." Rickman was a bespectacled man with a narrow face and long bangs. "Chef Ripley for Worrest Cilin." Ripley was a freckle-faced, blond young man. "Chef Agni for Harold West." The MC said, pointing to Agni. "And Butler Sebastian for Funtom Corporation." Sebastian held back a smirk when the MC froze. "... Wha... a butler?" The Mc asked, stunned. That couldn't be right... What was a butler doing in a cooking competition...?
"Yes. I am no chef." Sebastian said, smiling pleasantly. "I am simply one hell of a butler." He said smoothly. The audience began murmuring amongst themselves.
"Mummy! It's the Funtom company!" A child yelled excitedly.
"Did he say butler?" One woman asked.
"What's a maker of sweetmeats doing in a curry festival?" One man asked.
"I-In any case, we've got a unique cast of participants for you!" The MC said nervously, getting the program back on track. "Go ahead! Hold your breath in anticipation of the culinary delights to come! Now let the cooking begin!!" The competitors immediately took their places at their designated mini-kitchens that had been set up on the stage for them, and went to work, not wasting any time. The steady rhythm of chopping and ingredients sizzling in saucepans was like music to Chêne's ears. She was suddenly starving.
"Ooh... all that food smells sooo good~!" Chêne said, suppressing the urge to drool.
"Just stay still and watch." Ciel told her, sweat dropping. They hadn't even added any seasoning yet. Chêne must be really hungry if she was already drooling over raw ingredients...
"Well, we're stuck with nothing to do but sit back and wait, hmm—" Lau started to say when the crowd suddenly got excited.
"Say! Look at that!" a man standing close to them shouted suddenly, pointing at Agni.
Agni quickly removed the bandages from his 'right had of god' and, without even looking, swiftly grabbed a precise amount of each of his spices and flung them into the pan with ninja-like reflexes.
"Fast—!!" Chêne yelled, eyes slightly wide with surprise. She knew Agni was capable of incredible speed from watching him fight, but to think that he could instinctively measure spices faster than the blink of an eye like that was just incredible! Agni had just earned a whole new level of respect from Chêne.
"That Indian's hand practically has a life of its own!" A man yelled in astonishment.
"And what a lovely aroma..." The woman beside him said dreamily.
—^—^—^—
"Ha!" West laughed, grinning smugly. He had this contest in the bag! "That's the right hand of god for you. This'll be like taking candy from a—" West shivered. What was this impressive aura he was suddenly feeling...? "!?" West said, shocked as he turned to see where it was coming from. He and the audience watched, amazed, as Sebastian quickly removed his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and swiftly selected several different spices with all the speed and agility of a true ninja, before tossing them in the pan like a boss, grinning confidently.
—^—^—^—
"Baam!" Chêne said, imitating the famous Chef Emeril as she cheered for Sebastian, grinning impishly.
"Funtom's amazing too!!" A man yelled excitedly.
"And it smells just as great!" Another added as the whole crowd began to cheer enthusiastically for their favorite chef.
"Tch!" Ciel said, clicking his tongue in disappointment. "Alas, it doesn't seem as though he'll go down easily." Ciel muttered. Chêne stopped cheering and stared at the young earl, eyes wide with surprise.
"Eh...? You mean you really do want him to lose!? Then why did we enter in the first place—Do you know that I can't even look a chicken properly anymore after eating so much of it!?" Chêne yelled incredulously.
"You say that like it's my problem..." Ciel said, sweat dropping. She should've just hid underneath his desk when she'd had enough, like she used to do when Sebastian was first learning to cook like a human...
"Ahahaha! You bully~!" Lau laughed, smiling in amusement. He never would've guessed that Chêne of all people would be scarred by food.
—^—^—^—
"Wha..." West said, sweating nervously. 'Why!? Why can that butler blend those spices!?' West wondered incredulously. This was just not possible! 'No... but he's an Englishman. He can't win against Agni by simply observing and imitating...'
"Hey! What in the blazes is he doing!?" A man yelled incredulously as he pointed at Sebastian.
"!?" West said, flinching in shock. "He's putting something black in the curry pot! No, it can't be...! Is that chocolate!?" West yelled, stunned, as they all watched Sebastian break pieces of chocolate off of a Funtom chocolate bar and drop them into the curry.
"Chocolate in curry!?" Another man yelled incredulously.
"I'm going to be sick..." A woman moaned miserably as she covered her mouth.
"What is going through that man's head?" Another woman asked, horrified.
"Mummyyyy~! I want to eat chocolate~!" the woman's son said excitedly, tugging on her sleeve.
"Hahahaha! Leave it to Funtom, the candy king! What a novel method of advertisement!" West said, laughing boldly as he threw his head back.
—^—^—^—
"..." Ciel said as he calmly watched Sebastian continue to cook the curry, and Lau pulled gently on Ran-Mao's cheeks, stretching them out. Ran-Mao must have been too busy watching the contest to notice, because she didn't even react...
"Wow, these people don't seem to know very much about the spices used in their beloved curry, do they...?" Chêne said, sweat dropping.
—^—^—^—
"No... You are mistaken!" Agni said when he heard the protests of the crowd. He furrowed his brow slightly, looking a little nervous. 'That is indeed an acceptable seasoning. The blend of cacao, oils, and sugar teases out the aroma and bitterness, not to mention mellow body simultaneously. It would never occur to us Indians. It is something of which only an Englishman could conceive... Mister Sebastian... I have known since the moment we met... that you are no ordinary man.' Agni thought, impressed. 'However... I cannot lose either.' Agni thought as he pulled out a basket and grabbed his special ingredient. 'This is for the sake of my god!!'
—^—^—^—
"Wh—What is that!?" A man shouted when Agni held up his special ingredient.
"A blue... lobster!?" Chêne said, stunned. She had never seen a blue lobster before!
CLATTER!
"Why, if that isn't... the blue noblewoman, le Homard Bleu!" Viscount Druitt exclaimed as he shot out of his chair in surprise. "Found in but one location in the world—the clear waters off the coast of Bretagne in France—It is a legendary lobster!"
Chêne sweat dropped. She felt like her IQ had just been lowered a few points... How did that idiot know about such a rare thing? Was he just acting dumb...?
"With a shell of brilliant blue that would make even the stained glass of Chartres envious, it cuts quite the figure... Indeed, just as a beautiful noblewoman in a blue gown of the finest making might!" The viscount said excitedly.
Chêne shuddered—wait, why had she shuddered? It was just a simple analogy... he could be talking about anyone...
"And the firm flesh beneath that lovely shell enchants people with a delicate sweetness that is much more extravagant than it looks." Viscount Druitt said dreamily, unconsciously cupping his hand in the air the exact same way that he had when he groped her before. Ciel sweat dropped when Chêne started emitting a dark aura at the viscount's last comment... he had he feeling he knew why.
—^—^—^—
"There you have it! The rarest of rare ingredients and Agni's godly touch! And that, my friends, is how the best curry brand in Great Britain does things!" West boasted obnoxiously.
—^—^—^—
'I will do everything in my power to defeat you, Mister Sebastian!' Agni thought determined as he looked up to check his rival's progress. "!?" Agni said, flinching in surprise. 'Th-That is—!!' Sebastian was currently in the process of shaping round balls of dough and laying them out in neat rows in a large wooden tray.
—^—^—^—
"Damn!" Soma said, surprising Chêne, Ciel, and Lau as he suddenly appeared beside them. "We've lost this battle."
"!?" Ciel said, perking up when he heard that.
"What makes you say that?" Lau asked.
"And where have you been?" Chêne asked, raising an eyebrow at the prince. It's not like West had been anywhere near them since the start of the contest, so he didn't have to keep hiding...
"Certainly, the curry that Ciel's ≤khansama≥ made was the real thing." Soma said nervously, acting like he hadn't heard Chêne. "But the curry alone was perfect!! The problem is with the naan. It's not a staple in Bengal, so I don't know the details, but naan is made with a wheat or other flour that has been leavened... which is then baked quickly in a high temperature oven called a ≤tandoor≥." Soma explained.
—^—^—^—
'But this venue does not have such a large-scale oven... Genuine naan cannot be made here.' Agni thought as he watched Sebastian continue to shape buns out of the dough. 'Despite it all, Mister Sebastian is still just an Englishman. Learning the proper way to blend spices seems to have been the extent of his curry making talents. The problem lies not only with the naan. The curry is on too high a heat. If left that way, the precious stock will boil off, and the curry will be ruined.' Agni thought as he glanced at Sebastian's bubbling curry pot.
—^—^—^—
"He wasn't able to master the art of curry in just one week, after all." Soma said, distraught. "This match..."
—^—^—^—
'... Is mine.' Agni thought regretfully as he raised his right hand and closed his eyes.
—^—^—^—
"Soma..." Chêne said softly as she gazed at the prince, raising her hand.
KONK.
"You really need to learn to have a little more faith in people." Chêne scolded him as he gave him a light karate chop on the head.
"!?" Soma said, flinching in surprise. "What are yo—"
"Just be sure to pay attention and watch the battle of the butlers to the end! You might even learn something." Chêne told him, smiling.
